D-Day: Leafs weighing offers for Tomas Kaberle

UPDATE: Burke tells TSN: "If these offers are all we get...he's staying put."

Tomas Kaberle is working out back home in the Czech Republic and waiting to hear if he'll still be a member of the Maple Leafs come Monday.

By:Paul HunterSports Reporter, Published on Sat Aug 14 2010

Don’t mothball those Tomas Kaberle Leaf jerseys just yet.

While many observers are counting down Kaberle’s final hours as a Leaf, on Saturday Toronto general manager Brian Burke valued the offers he’s received for the defenceman as “nothing worth taking. Yet.”

Burke was even more emphatic Sunday morning, telling TSN, "If these offers are all we get...he's staying put."

Meanwhile, Kaberle’s agent, Rick Curran, feels the odds are just “50-50” that the smooth-skating rearguard will be dealt before his no-trade clause kicks back in at midnight Sunday.

Burke, in an email, said he has received “several legit offers” for Kaberle that he and Toronto’s management team will assess but none is yet enough to close the deal. Of course, when you’re trying to extract the highest possible value for an asset, it’s to Burke’s advantage to take an auction-style approach to proceedings. And he does have until midnight.

“Too early to say if we’ll make a deal or not,” wrote Burke.

Curran said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Kaberle remains Toronto property. He sees that scenario being just as likely as his client getting moved to Dallas, San Jose, Tampa Bay or any of the other clubs that have been mentioned as potential trading partners with the Leafs.

“I think it’s 50-50. If I get the phone call that says he’s been moved to X team, I wouldn’t be surprised. But, having said that, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the clock ticks midnight (Sunday) night and he’s still a Toronto Maple Leaf,” said Curran, who spoke with Burke Saturday morning.

While Burke has said all along that he’ll happily keep Kaberle if he doesn’t get an offer he deems worthy of an all-star calibre defender carrying a $4.25 million (U.S.) price tag — albeit with just one season remaining on his deal — it is thought that the GM is assessing somewhere in the neighbourhood of 10 different trade scenarios.

But Curran believes, no matter what the level of interest, nothing can be assumed.

“It’s an anxious time for Tomas as it is for the Leafs,” said the agent. “I think at this point, it’s probably better for everyone who is on the outside looking in, to just sit back with interest and wait to see what happens. I wouldn’t be surprised either way.”

Curran, as has been reported, said the Leafs have asked him if Kaberle would consider a contract extension if a trade isn’t made. The answer, of course, is yes. The 32-year-old defender has stated all along what he wants to remain a Leaf.

“There’s no sense getting into any of that right now. Let’s just wait and see if he is a Leaf by midnight (Sunday) or not,” said Curran.

While Burke covets a top-six forward for Kaberle, he has also been offered “futures packages” that include some combination of picks or prospects. He is considering both scenarios.

A report out of Tampa suggests Lightning manager Steve Yzerman, who has done a quick and remarkable job of bringing credibility back to the Bolts, is at least kicking the tires on a Kaberle deal. A deal with Tampa would likely involve big winger Ryan Malone coming Toronto’s way.

Other names recently linked to the Leafs in the Kaberle saga include David Backes from St. Louis — both Malone and Backes were on Burke’s U.S. Olympic team in Vancouver — and Mike Ribeiro from Dallas. Though on the surface, it’s hard to see Ribeiro as a Burke-type player.

San Jose, as the Star’s Damien Cox has observed, have an abundance of prospects and good young players and names such as Derek Joslin, Logan Couture or Devon Setoguchi might interest Toronto and could combine with a first-round pick to get a deal done if Toronto sweetened its end of the bargain.

Kaberle, meanwhile, is in the Czech Republic working out, skating, playing some tennis and, like Leaf fans, waiting to learn his fate at midnight Sunday.

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